Books in brief: 'Lefty,' 'The Great Bridge' and 'Stolen Prey'

Lefty Gomez, the son of a California rancher, wasn't as quotable as Yogi Berra, but the New York Yankee did say "I'd rather be good than lucky." He was. His fastball was ferocious and he was pals with Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. He also started and won the first All-Star Game. Okay, so a lot of pitchers are nicknamed Lefty, but not only is Gomez in the Hall of Fame, he has three fields named after him. And he married a showgirl when that was the thing to do.

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"The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge" by David McCullough

The revered hist orian became known to the greater reading public with this fact-dense and thrilling account of the 14 years it took to construct the Brooklyn Bridge, now reprinted in a 40th-anniversary edition. Generally considered the most beautiful suspension bridge in the world, the "East River Bridge" opened in 1883. It cost lives to build, including that of its visionary engineer, John Augustus Roebling, who died of tetanus after an accident on the slip of the Fulton Street Ferry. A marvelously told history.

The best-selling "Prey" series features Lucas Davenport, who in this installment is on the scene of a small-town slaughter of a husband and wife and their two children. Davenport has seen this kind of killing before when drug dealers deliver retribution. But the town is wealthy, the murdered man a banker, and it just doesn't fit. Until, quite horribly, it does.